The present invention relates, in general, to motor vehicle liftgates or rear hatches and, more specifically, to accessory components mounted on such vehicle liftgate or rear hatches.
In modern vehicles, larger vehicles such as SUVs, vans and station wagons have a liftgate or rear hatch which closes a rear opening in the vehicle body. The liftgate is pivotally attached, usually by hinges, to the vehicle body structure surrounding the rear opening. The liftgate is releasably latchable to the vehicle structure by a latch mechanism so as to be movable between a closed position latched to the vehicle body structure and a pivoted, open position allowing access to the interior of the vehicle through the rear opening.
The liftgate itself is formed of a panel structure, which is stamped or otherwise formed into a panel having an upper opening for receiving a glass window. An interior trim panel is attachable to the liftgate panel to cover components mounted on the gate.
The liftgate forms a platform for a number of different accessories or components, such as a flipglass latch, a wiper motor and associated wiper arm, license plate lights, and a wash pump and/or wash nozzle. Various lights as well as the center high mounted stop light may also be mounted on the liftgate along with the liftgate latch mechanism. Other components which are usually mounted on the liftgate can include electrical contact connections to the defrost grid mounted on the liftgate glass or fiberglass.
All of these accessories or components are manufactured separately from the liftgate panel structure and are mounted, usually one at a time, on the liftgate while the vehicle is being assembled. The mounting of each component on the liftgate panel either directly or through brackets typically requires mechanical fasteners and, usually, an electrical connection via a plug-in connector, screw terminal, etc. All of the mounting procedures, and the mechanical and electrical connections require time, multiple workers and an increased length on the vehicle assembly line. In addition, although each component can be tested at its manufacturing site, the numerous multiple mechanical and electrical connections all create additional sources of defects which may require additional checking after assembly on the liftgate.
As can be seen, all of these factors lead to a substantial assembly time for the liftgate thereby resulting in a higher than desirable cost. To address these problems, a modular approach has been proposed in which several components are separably manufactured, pretested, and assembled into a single module, with only the module having to be mounted in a single operation on a liftgate. The number of separate mechanical fasteners and electrical connections can also be reduced by this modular approach. However, the modular approach has been proposed only for a limited number of components. This has resulted in less than anticipated savings in assembly time and labor.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved modular component apparatus for vehicle liftgates in which multiple components are mounted in a single module for a single installation on the liftgate thereby improving reliability and reducing assembly costs. It would also be desirable to provide a modular component apparatus for a vehicle liftgate which has pre-aligned connection points, combined mounting points, and reduced weight which provides an increased glass viewing area.
The present invention is a liftgate component module which is mountable on a vehicle liftgate window carried on a liftgate. The module includes a unitary bracket, a window wiper drive motor and a flip window latch apparatus mounted on the bracket, and means for mounting the bracket on the liftgate window.
In one aspect of the invention, the bracket is formed as an extension of a housing of the wiper motor drive apparatus.
The bracket includes first and second spaced legs extending from a central portion. Apertures are formed in each of the first and second legs. The window latch apparatus has first and second mounting flanges each carrying an aperture respectively alignable with the apertures in each of the first and second legs of the bracket for receiving fasteners fixed on the liftgate window therethrough.
In another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle liftgate is provided and includes a liftgate panel, a pivotal window mounted on the panel for movement between a first closed position and a second open position relative to the panel. The striker is carried on the liftgate panel. The liftgate window wiper drive apparatus and a liftgate window latch apparatus are unitarily mounted on a bracket for unitary one-step mounting on the liftgate window.
The liftgate mounted accessory module of the present invention provides many advantage over previously devised methods for mounting liftgate components on a liftgate or a liftgate window. First, the plurality of window mounted components are unitarily mounted on a bracket which is attachable to the liftgate window in a one-step mounting operation.
Further cost advantages and simplified assembly are obtained by providing the mounting bracket as an integral extension of the wiper drive motor housing. As both the wiper drive motor and the liftgate window latch apparatus may be unitarily coupled prior to mounting on the liftgate window, the number of electrical and mechanical connections are reduced and the reliability of the individual components increased since the components can be preassemble, prewired and tested, if desired, prior to mounting on the vehicle. The use of a single module to mount multiple components on the liftgate window also reduces the number of workers required in the vehicle assembly plant to install each component separately as well as reducing assembly line length required for the multiple component assembly operations and the time required for such assembly.